Friday, February 06, 2009

New claws

I recently mentioned refreshing my claw collection. Well, here are the new additions, which include an entire eagle's foot -- replica, of course. No eagles dismembered in the making of this foot. Why a claw collection? It's [ostensibly] for my school visit for elementary grades; part of the presentation is on the character names in Dreamdark, and why I chose them, what they mean, and what they say about the character they represent. Well, my warrior prince is named Talon, so there's a portion on claws, and while I can't really bring a whole magpie to school with me to display the main character's name, I can bring talons. And besides, claws are cool.

I think having a whole raptor foot, especially one of this size, conveys far better than just a single talon the damage these could do. If I hold it up to the side of my face it goes from my chin to my forehead -- an eagle this size could flay a face open. Eek! And not only are they sharp -- they're strong. The larger eagles can crush the skulls of large mammals like humans, wolves, sheep, sloths.

Speaking of sloths:That looong top claw is a three-toed sloth claw. Wow, no? Here's a hand skeleton:I guess they need some crazy claws to haul themselves around the way they do:

The claw beneath the sloth claw comes from (well, you know, not really, being replica) a giant anteater. Want to see something really extraterrestrial-looking? A giant anteater skull:Not part of my collection. My only skull (so far) is a beaver skull that Jim gave me for Christmas, and it is way cool. I imagine that there will come a time, when we live in a bigger house, that we will possess more skulls. I'd like to have some cool museum display cases, like this one from Anthropologie:Isn't that beautiful? It would go so well with our Ikea glass-fronted red bookcase. (It's the "Linnarp," by the way; we have one but want more.) I would love to have a big library-ish space some day with high ceilings and room not only for books but strange collections. Skulls, feathers, claws, birds' nests, shells. Little bits of the faerie kingdom.

I also think it would be insanely cool to make marionettes with skulls for heads. Weird skulls, like owl monkeys and anteaters. And dress them fabulously? Can you imagine?

I felt yesterday like you were looking at me in an errie, extra penetrating way and now I know why-you want my skull as the central masterpiece for your collection. I want you to know that along with my magic leather chair I bequeath to you my skull. But not right now... Later!

Ooo, and I have the library fantasy too. Jarrod and I are going to turn our upstairs hallway into one (that's the best we can do). Did you see Chuck's apartment on Pushing Daisies this year? She had lots and lots and lots of pretty, crowded bookshelves. Man, I want to crawl into those sets so badly!

Love the claws! Hmmmm . . . I have a glass fronted case where I keep treasures. Twin One keeps the clippings from the goat's hooves,and their broken horns, but that's not quite as exciting as claws! (Although they do make *very* original show and tell items for school!)

Yes, yes, my dear, keep it up and you'll be the scary old lady with the freak show house and I'll be the sad old lady with the gazillion cats. And we'll live on the same street and convince the neighbourhood kids that we are mortal enemies and frequently use black witchcraft on each other, but then we'll meet for four am coffee on your porch (mine is the territory of feral cats that I feed very expensive liver paté), because we're too old to sleep anyway. I'll bring biscuits that smell just a tad too strongly of butter and you can show me your latest claws.

About Me

I'm a writer & artist. I live in Portland, Oregon with my husband Jim (also an artist) and our small daughter, Clementine Pie. My novels are Dreamdark: Blackbringer, Dreamdark: Silksinger, and Lips Touch, which was a finalist for the 2009 National Book Award. My next novel, Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Little, Brown) will be out September 27, 2011. I believe our dreams are REAL THINGS, not wisps and air, and it is our job in this life to make them come true, because no one else will do it for us, and because this is our one and only "wild & precious life"!